Ever since Covid19 shut down our theaters, movie houses, museums, concert halls, opera houses, jazz clubs, and stadiums – in short, our entire country’s entertainment industry – thus robbing thousands upon thousands of singers, actors, writers, producers, directors, musicians, athletes and countless others, of their livelihood, not to mention their raison d’etre, a marked increase in entertainment offerings on TV, cable, online, blogs, websites and streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Disney ensued. Some are free, some are for pay, and all are being eagerly snapped up by pleasure seeking audiences. Theaters, opera houses, and dance companies, both large and small, national and international, such as London’s National Theater, New York City’s Public Theater, Irish Repertory Company, and the Metropolitan Opera, are offering access, both free and for pay, to current and past productions, readings, and interviews with actors, directors, and playwrights. A goodly number of these venues are asking for a donation for themselves, as well as such organizations as the Actors Fund, Actors Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA, and The Brooklyn Hospital Center. Obviously, people need to be entertained, performers need to perform, producers need to produce, and venues and creative workforces need to be supported.
The most blatant change brought about by Covid 19 is the need for people, in all walks of life to share how the Covid19 virus is affecting their daily lives. The most powerful “in your face” presentation that I saw this past summer was Jessica Blank’s and Erik Jensen’s filmed play, The Line, a documentary-style piece offered online for a month of streamable performances by the Public Theater. All six actors, mouthing the words taken from actual interviews of front-line Covid19 workers, take on the personas of real-life doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other personnel in New York hospitals. Their stories are harrowing. The bravery of these workers, all putting their lives at risk, is inspirational. Here we meet Sharon, a virus-surviving hospital nurse who was caring for geriatric patients when the pandemic first hit and swept away many of her patients. Davis, an ex-actor turned nurse, uses his talents to bring laughter to his Covid19 patients. Vikram, the son of Indian immigrants, is an oncology doctor who works in the hospital’s emergency department. Dwight, an oncology nurse, emigrated from Trinidad and has been working in the same hospital for 22 years; Jennifer, a first-year intern, works in emergency at a hospital in Brooklyn whose patients are predominantly from the Caribbean. Echoing everybody’s experiences is Ed, an ex-Vietnam medic who sees the city of New York itself as a pandemic battlefield.
